Tips & Techniques on How to Draw Trees

Supplies

• When drawing your first tree, you only need a few basic supplies. You preferably need one or two number 2 pencils, a soft eraser -- such as a putty eraser -- that will cleanly erase any line, scratch paper or a drawing pad.

  When you begin drawing, your pencil should be sharp. Though you can use any pencil sharpener to sharpen your pencil, consider using a craft knife. Professional art teacher Bob Davies recommends sharpening pencils with a craft knife as craft knives produce a long, strong point -- ideal for drawing -- as compared to the short, weaker point produced by most pencil sharpeners.

Beginning with Shapes

• Before you just jump in and draw a tree, consider the shape of the tree you want to draw. Is the tree cylindrical? Is the tree round? Is the tree made up of several shapes? Davies talks about how artists can draw a tree by starting with an Ace of Clubs, or three circles stacked on top of a triangle, while Manga Tutorials.com suggests starting with a cone, or several cones stacked.

  These shapes are important and very useful as they provide the framework for your tree. When drawing these shapes onto your paper, use faint lines so that the framework won't be visible when your drawing is finished.

Winter Trees

• Winter trees are simply trees with the trunk and branches without the leaves. Learning to draw winter trees is useful because it requires you to study how trees grow and how branches diverge.

  Beginning artists may be tempted to draw branches more like a W; however, tree branches split in a V shape. Initially, the trunk splits into two, and then each succeeding branch and twig splits into a V as the tree ascends into the sky.

  When drawing winter trees, and tree trunks and branches in general, it's okay to have wavy, crooked lines; that's how trees grow.

Drawing Leaves

• When drawing trees with leaves, there are three basic shapes the foliage makes: curvy, boxy or spiky. Mango Tutorials.com encourages artists to practice all three types; each is ideal for different trees, and spiky foliage is useful when drawing trees being blown by wind.

  As you draw the tree's foliage, layer the leaves, whether they're curvy, boxy or spiky. If you're drawing a small tree, you can also draw each individual leaf; however, if you're drawing a large tree, drawing all the individual leaves will be an intensely time-consuming process.

Study the Masters

• Study trees in real life and pick apart how they're put together. Also, study trees drawn by professional artists. Figure out how they presented their trees, and use these techniques in your own work.